Wedding Week: The Little Red Button

Here we go! Can you believe it is wedding week in my neck of the woods?  I sure can’t.

I wanted to share with you some of the amazing people I have had the chance to “meet” virtually and work with leading up to the big day.

I worked with Stacy Blair of the Little Red Button (+ a fellow Canadian) on my boutonnieres.

No, none of the pictures below are for my wedding but I wanted to give you a flavour of how crazy-talented Stacy is with paper.   I don’t know how she makes such beautiful things!

Photo Source: Little Red Button Etsy Shop

I was initially attracted to her work when I was looking for an alternative to real flowers.  I’m not a flower hater but I wanted to do something different.

In my search, I stumbled upon her paper creations and decided to reach out to her.  Stacy was a pleasure to work with and I look forward to seeing everything come together on Sunday.

Chai Tea Cookies + Chocobananagasm Loaf

All summer I wanted to bake.  I had big baking plans.  I got my cookbooks and cooking blogs lined up, I was going to tackle a couple items a week and kick my baking skills up a notch.  Guess what? Those plans were botched.  I’ve done almost zero baking as I have had a number of other projects keeping me busy and out of the kitchen.   That is…. until this week.

This has been one of my busiest weeks and for some reason,  I managed to steal a couple hours to bake two things from one of the newer cookbooks in my collection: The Sugar Cube. This is on top of launching a magazine, tying up loose ends with wedding planning, cleaning and packing.

I baked the Chocobananagasm muffins which I turned into a loaf and the Duke of Earl Cookies which I changed into Chai Tea Cookies.  They were both terrific recipes. Very easy and the outcome was delicious.

Chantal Guillon Macarons

As a macaron lover, I thought I would do my duty and spread the word about a new macaron shop on the street.

For all you macaron lovers out there who happen to reside within driving distance to Palo Alto – there is a new macaron patisserie in your neighbourhood- Chantal Guillon.  I received the notification email this morning (see below) and thought I would share the news.

Photo Sources: 1, 2, 3

This is the second Chanthal Guillon macaron shop (the other one is in San Francisco). Her macarons look divine and you can sip on the fragrant teas of Mariage Freres while enjoying a macaron or three!

Speaking of which, I am getting on a plane tomorrow to head home to Toronto and I look forward to sampling a few macarons myself at Butter Avenue.

Countlan Magazine + Other Exciting News

I have two exciting things to share with you today:

1. I launched a digital magazine called Countlan, yesterday.  Stuart Woods designed the layout and branding and Alina Kotova handled all the lovely illustrations. Check it out and let me know what you think…

Photo Sources: 1, 2, 3 

2. I will be writing a monthly post on cafes in Prague on Expats.cz, a local portal for what’s going on around the city. Stay tuned for my first article in September.

Fun times + less than two weeks away to the wedding!

Good Morning Breakfast Date

Good morning!

Have you ever gone on a breakfast date with someone?

And I don’t mean a breakfast meeting.  I mean a weekday date, for breakfast.

I tried this `breakfast date`concept last Friday morning and it was great.

My fiance and I have been working a lot lately and haven’t had much of a chance to go on a date.

So what did we do?  We woke up early on Friday morning and walked down the street to our local coffee shop, Muj Salek Kavy,  to go on a breakfast date.  Him and I. No business talk.

He had ham and eggs, (in Czech, that is written “Hemenex“) and I had the pancakes with spiced plums, sour cream and syrup. It was simple, quick, fun and romantic.

This was a recommended experience!  Has anyone been on one?

Antonstadt: The Queen West of Dresden

I don’t know why, but I think people miss out on the interesting part of Dresden when they take a day trip to the city. I’ve spoken to numerous people about it and when I ask “have you been to the cool part?” they look at me in disbelief!!

Most often, people stay close to the main square (Altstadt) where you have museums, art galleries, and several major shopping centres.  On a recent trip to Dresden, I took two friends who had previously been to Dresden’s main drag (the square) to the other side….namely Neustadt, and the hip Antonstadt (pictures below).  I tried to put together a collection of pictures to give you a sense of the streetscape in the area.

Antonstadt reminds me of what Queen Street West in Toronto used to be before it became overly commercial (at least the strip between University and Spadina) and perhaps what is now Parkdale (another Toronto reference).  Antonstadt in Dresden is really cool area that is a bit grungy, hipster, arty, and creative.  It is here, where you have lots of small boutiques, cafes, cheap bars and restaurants, outdoor markets, beautiful graffiti art (seems like a must for every German city!), green grocers and live music.

Every trip I make to Dresden includes a trip to the Antonstadt area; just to see what is going on.  It is a vibrant community with lots of energy and people on the street.  I love the vibe here. Antonstadt is where Lila Sosse is, the restaurant I blogged about before that serves its dishes in Weck Jars.

Some of my favourite spots in this area include:

1. Lila Sosse

2. Good Mimi’s Homemade (Ice Cream!)

3. Der-Eyecatcher (Antique/Vintage Home Design Store)

4. Villandry Restaurant

5. Tanteleuk (cafe)

Has anyone ventured to Dresden recently? I would love to hear about your favourite spots in this neighbourhood.  Also, I have FINALLY created a Facebook Page for Lamb411.  If you like what you read and you like what you see, hit the “Like” button and let me know 🙂  Thanks for helping to spread the word.  It means a lot to this little blogger in Prague.

Snog

It seems like there are always last minute changes to make when it comes to weddings.  A change in flowers, a change in spellings, a change in event order, a change in entertainment, and a change in dresses.  In my case, I changed dresses three times! 🙂  I hope all these changes work out in the end as we are 18 days away.

Last time I blogged about ice cream in London, I found a minimalist looking shop called Polka Gelato.  Today I wanted to switch gears from gelato to frozen yogurt and from minimalist chic interiors to something  fluorescent, fun, party, bright, wild and space-like.

Enter: Snog

Snog was the answer to a gap in the frozen yogurt market.  The team behind this shop vowed to bring a bit of the frozen yogurt goodness trend that continues to blossom all over the world to London. They did so in such a wonderful and colourful way thanks to the talented Cinimod Studio.  How could you not smile looking at retail space that looked like this (see below) and has adorable mushroom stools for seating?

The other thing about Snog is its name.  Snog means to kiss. Both the company website “Ifancyasnog.com” and its packaging plays right into the double entendre.

Photo Sources: 1, 2 

They currently have several shops in the UK, the Middle East, Pakistan and Brazil and even have their own music playlist on their website.

Anyone need a snog at the Olympics?

View Snog Frozen Yogurt London in a larger map

Here Are Some Other People Who Fancy A Snog:

1. The Telegraph:  Tried and Tested: Frozen Yogurt

2. Emma McQueen: Snogging is Good For You

3. The London Insider: Snog Frozen Yogurts

4. Dezeen: Snog Frozen Yogurt Shop by Cinimod Studio

Simply Chocolate

Happy Monday.  I am happy to report that I had a very productive weekend.  I put the finishing touches on my wedding flowers which were inspired by the ombre flowers from a birthday shoot posted on My Sweet & Saucy‘s blog, worked with my graphic designer on the wedding program, attended a fabulous dinner party and made the Raw Pad Thai salad from My New Roots, to accompany some pan seared salmon among other tasks that aren’t as exciting as the ones I mentioned.

I hope the title of my blog post tells you what I feel like eating today.  I don’t know what it is, but I have an insatiable craving for chocolate.  I thought I would visually represent my craving with an interesting looking chocolate company in Denmark.  Simply Chocolate is an “unpretentious” chocolate company in Copenhagen with witty package and creative in-store design.

Their chocolate has funny sayings on their packages such as “Oral Satisfaction Inside,” or “Grainy Gill,” “Minty Cindy,” “The Cream Team,” and “Undercover Goji.”  Anyone of these chocolates from Simply Chocolate would have done the trick today.

Photo Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 

In other exciting news, I am almost ready to reveal the project I have been working on for the past four months.  It is a digital magazine on entertaining at home.  I’ve taken a global approach to the topics and can’t wait to hear what you think.